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Thursday, March 20, 2014

The top of my knee rug is finished. It's far from perfect and I'm happy about that. This was made up from things I looked at on-line and liked and from some things in my head. There was no pattern and I was not careful enough about making each block the same size so it's definitely skew whiff. Now that it's all together I can see things I could have done better. That's OK too because this is for me and it's a whole big learning curve. Plus there is no way I am going to unpick hand stitching. I'm hoping the quilting will disguise some of the imperfections. This is really a memory quilt of our trip to Hawaii last year. We stopped for lunch at Waimea and accidentally walked past a quilt shop. I could not pass up the opportunity to accidentally walk in. There was no way I was walking out without buying some fabric to remember this day.

I'm putting it away until I am able to go shopping in a city because I need backing fabric and batting. Next job is to work on the top for our other D-I-L

One thing about this addiction to quilting.... I don't have time to eat and when I do I don't waste time snacking because then I'd need to wash my hands.

Maybe I'll be able to sleep in tomorrow. I've been getting up between 5 and 6 am eager to get started again.

Sunday, March 16, 2014

This post was written a few days ago so I have updated it this morning.

Very funny!

For what I have been up to this past week or three pop over to Growing Older Gracefully. Should have the finished article ready to photograph and gift wrap soon. Done and delivered

Yesterday, now last Sunday, we went to Te Aroha where my sister celebrated her 70th birthday. Lots of family. Lots of very good food. We went to Bosson House, an older house, set in attractive grounds making it feel quite rural. The owners run a catering business doing all their own cooking and it is Delicious. The menu was 100% gluten free except for the bread and the birthday cake which was made by my niece and her children. The most delicious of all was a chocolate cake with ganache. It was made by blitzing whole oranges, from their own tree, and adding in the eggs and almond flour etc. I think the oranges were cooked in boiling water first. We were served delicious canapes on either tiny homemade crackers, or on potato based tiny squares. The main course consisted of thick sliced ham, bacon rolls, two of the yummiest leafy salads with various added extras, egg and potato salad plus the bread rolls and butter. The dessert was the afore-mentioned chocolate cake cut into 2 in squares and tiny meringues topped with whipped cream and a blueberry. Everything looked delicious and perfectly presented. The bacon rolls were a big hit too. Bacon was wrapped around chicken with a cream cheese centre. They were served cold and totally perfect. I was very impressed.

We left home about 10 am and it was after 6 pm when we got back so quite a long day and we were pretty tired when we got in. I had felt slightly unwell all day and the travelling added to it but otherwise totally enjoyable. We sat outside in the garden most of the time. Shady trees kept us out of the hot sun. Right now it's raining so I think we were lucky with the weather.

We are hoping it will be a nice day for tomorrow's fishing trip. We have to be up before the birds. Our son and his wife are here on holiday from Christchurch. They have booked us to go fishing on the Muscle Barge, a working boat, which has been retired from it's original purpose. We have to hit the road about 6.15 am. The sun is not even coming close to the horizon that early. Sunrise here is about 7.05 am tomorrow. I need to pack some picnic food and my special keto coffee in a flask, as we won't be home again until after mid-day and I won't be eating breakfast before we leave.

My keto coffee consists of freshly brewed coffee with coconut oil, coconut cream/milk and thick cream whisked until the top has a nice froth. It's time I had a break from morning coffee but not when we have so many things going on.

Since writing this we have spent time with our son and his wife, on holiday here from Christchurch. I have caught the patchwork quilt bug. How on earth can I find time to do all the things I think are important. There are just not enough hours in a day, a week, a month. At least this keeps my hands busy but not so good about making time for walking. I can't wait to get out of bed in the morning to see what I am going to create today. I'm still stitching everything by hand. Perhaps I'll have to bite the spool on the sewing machine and do things faster.

Talking of hands. I could not have done this needlework before going wheat free. I am amazed by the strength that is now returning to my hands but the biggest benefit by far is being pain-free. My eyesight is sometimes a challenge but now that I can blink thanks to the tiny weight in my upper eyelid I can bear any discomfort an blurriness without the old frustration kicking in. I have an appointment with the optometrist next week so will be interesting to hear his verdict.

"THE PAIN OF DISCPLINE OR THE PAIN OF REGRET AND DISAPPOINTMENT" - IT'S MY CHOICE

DISCIPLINE EQUALS FREEDOM

About Me

I am in my 78th year and live in New Zealand. In 2013 my husband, John, and I spent our 50th Wedding Anniversary in Hawaii. We have a major trip to North America planned for 2018
I have a long history of losing and gaining weight. I first began keeping an on-line journal around 2000 as a way to record my weight loss and quest for better health.
We moved to Christchurch in December 2015 to be near our only Grandchild. Ava -Jane is a wonderful gift to our family.
Life is full of the unexpected.
I am all about having some fun times this year.